Multicolor-weft-replenishing mechanism for looms



Feb. 17, 1931. 1,793,168

MULTIGOLR WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR Looms v. A. ForsY ET AL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 8, 1928 INVEN Tol? VICTOF? A FOISY CARL- l-L-,INDEGEN Parenteel Feb. 17, 1931 VICTOR A. FOISY, OF WORCESTER, LIASSACHUSETTS, AND CART.: J,

PATENT' ortica i PROVIDENCE, Baronia rsLANn, .essiGNoRs fro onor/irren a irnovtns Loom won-KS,

or wonen-sana, iiiessfecn'nsnrrs, A cenronarroi or Mrissaonnsnfrrs MULTICOLOR-WEFT-REIPLENESHING MECHANISINI FOB. LOOMS Application ined Meren a, ieee. serieu No. scones.

rIhis invention relates to'improvements in multicolor weft replenishingmechanism and it is an important object of our present invention to provide means whereby bobbins of different lengths may be employed in the same magazine or replenishing mechanism.

Certain fabrics have incorporated into their construction both cotton and rayon, or

worsied and rayon, and such fabrics are frequently made in mills which are provided with a silk or rayon department which is separate from the other departments, such as `cotton or worsted. It is customary to weave silk with va somewhat smaller bobbin f than is ordinarily employed for cotton and worsted, the bobbin for the liner yarn'being as a rule shorter than the other bobbins, althouOfh they may be wound to substantially the same diameter. 1t is an important object of our present invention to adapt the ordinarv so-called stationary magazine which is employed on fancy or box looms, so that certain of the vertical bobbin compartments will hold short bobbins while others will accommodate longer bobbins.`

The usual form of multicolor weft replenishing mechanism has a so-called cradle or bobbin releasing device located at the bottom of each stacl; of reserve bobbins and there are vertically extending guides for the tips of the bobbins. lt is a further object of our present invention to malte the outside plate of the replenishing mechanism of several different sections, each section having one or more guides for the; tips of the bobbins and also having` provision for supporting the outer portions of the cradle or cradles which correspond to tl e guides. By this construction the parts which must be changed in or,- der to accommodate a variation in the length of the bobbins are all carried by one or another of the sections of the outside plate of invention resides in the combination and arthe magazine.

Itis a still further objectv of our present invention to provide improved thread slots for the ends of the filling whichentend from the bobbins held in reserve to a common thread holder, this feature of the invention including the treatment of the sides of the slots in such a way as to provide a hard highly polished preferably non-metallic surface which will not abrade the filling as the bobbins pass downwardly toward transfer position.

The usual form of weft replenishing mech- Y anism for multicolor looms includes a plurality of supports which hold a bobbin in transfer position, certain or all of said supports being yieldable at the time the transferrer arm moves the bobbin into a depleted shuttle. The supports for the tip of the bobbin have ordinarily been so disposed as to engage the wooden portion of the bobbin which extends beyond the wound mass of yarn, but where bobbins of dilieringlengths are-to Vbe employed it is necessary to malte some provision for holding the tips of the bobbins. We set forth'herein two different constructions which accomplish this result, the preferred form being to space the yielding supports for the tips of `the bobbins from the wooden tips of the bobbin's so that they will be in Contact with the cylindrical portion of the wound mass of yarn on the shorter as well as the longer bobbins. A different method may be employed leaving the tip supports in their usual position for the shorter hobbins and winding on the long` bobbin an amount of yarn which is ofthe same length as that on the short bobbin. This latter method limits the capacity of the replenishingl mechanism so far as total reserve yarn is concerned and because of this fact we prefer to use the first named construction.

The change from one length to another of bobbins necessarily requires an alteration in the length of the corresponding cradle and to effect this change we may employ the form of bobbin release or cradle which is set forth in patent to Gordon No. 1,608,652.,

vWith these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, our

rangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein we have shown a convenient embodiment of our invention,

Fig. l is a vertical section through a magazine made according to -our present inven- LINDEC-REN, 0]?V L G ing part of the replenishingmechanism,

Fig. 2 s a front elevation taken in the direction of arrow 2, 1 and showing` the hobbin support in the preferred position,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view taken in the direction ot arrow 3, 2, certain parts being,` omitted for the salie oi' clearness,

Fig. 1- is a view similar to 3 but showing the modilied device for supporting bohbins all of which have wound masses of yarn of the saine length, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on line 5 5 o Fig. 1 and showing the improved form ot thread guide which reduces wear on the weft ends extending` from the reserve bololoins to the thread holders not shown.

lt is to be understood that as the bohbins wait transfer they are disposed in parallel vertical stacks between two main supiorts, one of these supports being the inside plate which receives and guides the butts ot the bobl ins and the other being` the outside part of the structure which guides the tips. live employ the usual method tor guiding the butts oit the hobbins and our present invention is related particularly to that part ol the structure which lies adjacent teV tip ends tion tri.. n adjacent to the liobbin tip supportoi the bobbins. Accordingly, w provide a weft replenishing` mechanisir having a plate 10 which is provided with welis 11 the effect ot which is to provide a plurality of vertical guideways for the butts of the bohhins. Supported by the bottom of said plate 10 are one or more guides 12 which may have ribs 13 defined by plates 14 or provided in any other approved manner. rlhe support i'or the 'front ot the butt of the hobbin may lie similar to that shown in patent to Brouwer, No. 1,052,604, reference to which would show that a rib employed to engage one of the rings ot the hobbins o prevent endwise movement thereof away from the plate 10. lt deeired a rear support for the butts oit the bol bins as shown in patent to Ryon No. 1,360,050 may be used. As previously stated the present invention is not related to that part of the mechanism which supports the butts of the hobbins and this portion of the replenishing mechanism may be substantially the same as that in common use and set forth in patent to Ryon No. 1,030,748. rlhe usual tie rods 15, 16 and 1T may be employed substantially as shown in Fig'. 1.

ln carrying,v our improvements into elllect we divi le the outer plate for the magazine which supports the tips or" the bolibins into several sections which are supported independently of each other. is shown in and 4 we have provided three sections 20, 21 and 22 which correspond, respectively, to the trent, central and rear stacks of the bobbins. Each of these parts is provided with openings through which extend the correspending tie rods and each part is supported by two of the tie rods as clearly shown in Fig. 1. T he position of said sections longitudinally of the tie rods may be determined by means of set screws 23 and all ot' the tie rods will preferably be made sulliciently long so that if desired all the bobbins used may be or" the longer type.

As shown herein we have illustrated our invention as permitting the use ot shorter bobbins in the :trent cell or compartment and we have accordingly placed the section 20 nearer the plato 10 than are the remainlizal sections 21 and 22, so that said part 20 will cooperate with short bobbins S and the sections 21 and 22 will support the relatively longer bobbins L.

'lhe section 20 is termed with a vertically extending slot 24 which receives the tip ends ot the wooden part of the bobbins and there is mounted on the bottom portion of said section 2O the outer end of a cradle the inner end ot wiich is supported as at 2G to the plate 10. rlihe cradle is made of two portions 27 and 28 which have a tongue and groove connection 2) indicated in Fig. 2 and are held in adjusted position by means of screws Said cradle may be substantially the same as set forth in the aforesaid patent to Gordon llo. 1,008,652. The outer end ot said cradle has pivotal support as at E31 with the section 20.

The central section 21 is provided witl grooves or slots 31 similar in torni and purpose to the slot 24 in the section 20 and in like manner the section 22 is provided with a slot or groove 32 to receive the tips ot the bobbins in the rearmost stack.

ln the torni ot the invention set forth more particularly in Fig. 3 we make use of the full capacity of the replenishing mechanism to hold reserve weft hy winding each bobbin with approximately the maximum yarn which it can hold. In order to support the tips ot the bobbins in transfer position we provide a pair ot yielding spring` supports each o t which may he ot the form shown in Patent No. 1,72%,280 'ssued to King. Each of these supports includes a holder element l0 and a coil spring bobbin engaging' portion l1 which is held in adjusted longitudinal and angular position in the corresponding holder by means ot a holt ll2 which clamps the upper and lower holder portions 43 and ell, respectively, to hold said portions against th spring. There will be one holder and sprin-f supported by the lower tie rod l? at the front of the magazine and another supported by their respective tie rods by means ot set the lower tie rod 15 at the rear oi" the magazine. Said holders are held in position on their respective tie rods by means ot set screws l5 and they will be located approiimately as shown in Fig. 3 so as to lie under n u, Si

l ffl the cylindrical portions of the wound mass of yarn on the shorter bobbins S.'

It is customary in certain weft replenish; ing looms to place the rear support for the tip of the bobbin at a short distance from the wooden tip as shown in patent to Chevrette No. 1,566,736, and we retain this loca-tion of the rear bobbin support, but so far as we are aware it is new to move the front'support so that it aiso will be spaced from the wooden tip of the bobbins and will be positioned for engagement with that portion of the yarn which lies betw-een the conical portion C of the weft and the butt of the bobbins.

The cradles 50 which are supported by the sections 21 and 22 may be of the usual form or may be of the type which is supported by the section 20, depending upon whether more than one compartment of the replenishing inecharism is to be provided with the shorter bobbins. i

In the operation of the device the weft detecting mechanism not shown will call for a change of weft when the yarn inthe active shuttle is substantially depleted and at this time the cradle corresponding to the active shuttle will rock on itsV axis to release the lowermost bobbin of the stack supported thereby, so that the bobbin may fall onto the yielding supports 4:1. The bobbin will roll to the common transfer position indicated at T in Fig. 1, after which the transfer mechanism not shown will effect replenishment of weft. Thelower portion of the central section 21 extends downwardly as at so as to engage the tip ends of the longer bobbins L to restrain the same against longitudinal movement, but the shorter bobbins' will be spaced from this portion 60 and it is for this reason that we employ the ridge 13 which will be in engagement with that ring R on the butt of the bobbin which is nearest the tip thereof. By rea-son of the ridge the shorter bobbins will be held in proper transfer position so that the rings lthereof will bereceived by the spring clips in the shuttle. From an inspection of Fig. 3 itwill be noted that the spring supports Zi1 will engage the cylindrical portion of the wound mass of yarn on the shorter weil as the longer bobbins Vso that no variation in the location of the bobbins of different lengths will occur when they awaitl Fig. 3. In this position the support will engage the woo-den ends of the bobbins. In

this form it will be desirabl-e to have the ridge 13 to prevent endwise movement of the lshorter bobbins. By reason of the nature of the bobbins shown in F ig. 4 the short as well as the long bobbins will be held in the same correct position for transfer.v In this vform the rear support 71.will be located substan- Vtially the same as the rear support in the preferred form so as not to interfere with the thread extending from the conical part of the yarn to the thread holder.

In both forms it will be noted that the holders for the supports are movable along their respective tie rods and may be held inV 1 Vany longitudinal and angular position by bins must'pass outwardly to a thread holder not shown and they ordinarily extend through slots similar to those shown at 80. As made heretofore, however, these slots have been delined merely by slots in the cast iron of which the frame is made and it has been found that the iron surface along which the thread ends rub abrade the threads Sto such an extent that breakage notinfrequently occurs at the time of transfer. 7e have found that with an ordinary weft replenishing mechanism of the multicolor type a thread of a given size and strength will be worn or weakened so as to break if rubbed three times along the full length of the slot in contact with one side thereof, but it may be passed over a slot of the same length approximately thirty times without breaking if the walls of the slot are provided with enamel or similar material. This feature of our invention is set forth in Fig. 5 where the cross section of the member 22 is enlarged so as to bring out more clearly the coating of enamel which is appliedito the rounded surface 86. Each of the vertical edges of the sections 21 and is provided as set forth and we find that there is a very marked reduction of the number of breakages of filling at the time of transfer which can be attributed to no other cause than the 'use of enamel. If desired the enamel may be baked on the sections of the outside of the magazine.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided a magazine wherein bobbins of, two different lengths may be employed at the same time and wherein the wooden tip ends of the bobbins ofboth lengths are substantially the same diameter. We are aware of an application pending in the names of Jennings and Chevrette, wherein bobbins of two different lengths may be employed but with the tips of the bobbins of different di aineters and we make no claim to such a construction. It will further be seen that the preferred form of the invention permits the use of both long and short bobbins which have wound thereon the maximum length of yarn for which the bobbins are designed and that the front tip support is so placed as to aivait transfer.

engage the cylindrical portion of the Wound mass of yarn on the shorter as Well as the longer bobbins, thus insuring proper positioning ofthe bobbins of both lengths as they Furthermore, it Will be seen that each of the sections E20, 2l and 22 is provided with a slot or guide for the tips of the bobbins and also with means for supporting the adjiacent end of the corresponding cradle -which cooperates With the stack of bobbins guided by the section. It is not necessary to use adjustable cradles as solid cradles of different lengths might be used. TWhile We have shoivn the invention as applicable particularlv to the front section yet the idea of the use of tivo lengths of bobbins set forth herein may be extended to inclu-de other sections. Again, it will be seen that by providing the slot-s 8O with enamel, which may be baked to the cast iron base of said sections, ive secure thread guides Which are much superior to those heretofore used.

Having thus described our invention it will be apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and ive do not Wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what ive claim is:

l. ln weft rcplenishing mechanism operating with bobbins having` substantially similar butts and tips and arranged in parallel stacks, the bobbins of one stack being of a length diferent from the length of the bobbins of another stack, means to guide the butts of the bobbins of the several stacks, guiding structure for the tips of the bobbins, said guiding structure being formed of sections Which are independently movable with respect to each other, one of said sections being for one staclr of bobbins of a given length and another section being for a stack of bobbins of a different length, and bobbin supports to engage the yarn on the bobbins and hold the bobbins in proper transfer position irrespective of the length of bobbins.

2. in weft replenishing mechanism operating with bobbins having substantially similar butts and tips and arranged in parallel stack, the bobbins of one stack being of a length. different from the length of the bobbins of another stach, means to guide the butts of the bobbins of the several stacks, guiding structure for the tips of the bobbins, rods extending from the means parallel to the axes of the bobbins in the several stacks, said guiding structure being formed of a plurality of sections supported by the tie rods, said sections being movable independently of each other along the tie rods to be at different distances from the means, one of said sections being for a stack of bobbins of a given length and another of said sections being lfreales` for a stack of bobbins of a different length, and bobbin supports mounted on the rods and positioned to hold a bobbin in proper transfer position irrespective of the length of the bobbin.

3. ln iveft replenishing mechanism operating With bobbins having substantially similar butts and tips and arranged in pa allel stacks, the bobbins of one stack being of a length different from the length of the bobbins of another stack, means to guide the butts of the bobbins of the several stacks, and guiding structure for the tigs of the bobbins, said guiding structure including a plurality of separate sections, a pair of parallel rods for each section secured to and e3;- tending from the means, and means to secure each section in adjusted longitudinal position with respect to the corresponding tie rods, one of said sections being located at a given distance from the Yfirst named means to cooperate with bobbins of a given length and another of said sections being at a different distance from the means to cooperate with the stack of bobbins of different length, and bobbin supports mounted on the rods and positioned to hold a boblin in proper transfer position irrespective of the length of the bobbin.

4l. lin vveft replenishing mechanism operating vvith bobbins having` substantially similar butts and tips and arranged in parallel stacks, the bobbins of one stack being of a length different from the length of the bobbins of another stack, means to guide the butts of the bobbins of the several stacks, and guiding structure for the tips of the bobbins, said guiding structure being formed of sections Which are independently movable with respect to each other, one of said sections being for one stach of bobbins of a given length and another section being for a stack of bobbins of a different length, bobbin tip supports, and means to hold said supports in position to have supporting engagement with the long and short bobbins When a bobbin of either length is in transfer position.

5. In weft replenishing mechanism operating With bobbins having` substantially similar butts and tips and arranged in parallel stacks, the bobbin of one stack being of a length different from the length of the bobbins of another stach, means to guide the butts of the bobbins of the several stacks, guiding structure for the tips of the bobbins, said structure being formed of sections Which are independently movable with respect to each other, one of said sections being for one stack of bobbins of a given length and another section being for a stack of bobbins of a different lengt and bobbin tip supports independent of the section and located to have supporting engagement with the long and short bobbins when a bobbin of either length is in transfer position, said y supports to have engagement with the cylindrical portion of the mass of yarn Wound on the bobbins.

6, In Wett replenishing mechanism operating With bobbins having substantially similar butts and tips and arranged in parallelV stacks, the bobbins of one stack being of a length different from the length of the bobbins of another stack, means to guide the butts of the bobbins of the several stacks, guiding structure for the tips of the bobbins, said structure being formed of sections which are independently movable with respect to each other, one of said sections being for one stack of bobbins of a given length and another section being for a stack of bobbins of a diierent length, a bobbin releasing cradle for each section, the cradles being of a length to correspond to the length of the bobbins of the associated section, and bobbin supports to receive the bobbins from the cradles, each support being positioned tohold a bobbin in proper transferposition i independently of the length of the bobbin.

7. In vveft replenishing mechanism operating With bobbins having substantially similar butts and tips and arranged in parallel stacks, the bobbins of one stack' being of a length different from the length of the bobbins of another stack, means to guide the butts of the bobbins of the several stacks, Y

guiding structure forthe tips of the bobbins, said structure being formed of sections Which are independently movable with respect to each other, one of said sections being for one stack of bobbins of a given length and another section being for a stack of bobbins of a different length, and a bobbin releasing cradle for each section, the cradles being of a length to correspond to the length of the bobbins guided by the associated section, each section having provision for supporting the cradle corresponding to the stack of bobbins guided thereby, and bobbin supports to receive the bobbins from the cradles, each support being positioned to hold a bobbin in proper transfer position independently of the length of the bobbin.

8. In a weft replenishing mechanism operatingv With a plurality of. reserve bobbins of different lengths, means to hold the bobbins in a plurality of separate stacks, the bobbins of any one stack being of the same length, a pair of bobbinv supports acting jointly to hold a bobbin in transfer position, the supports being capable of holding the bobbins from any of the stacks in proper transfer position.

9. In a weft replenishing mechanism operating With a plurality of reserve bobbins of different lengths, means to hold the bobbins in a plurality of pairs of stacks, supports to hold bobbins from any of the stacks in have hereunto Aso Cil 

